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How to make yoghurt - a primer

Brigitte Hafner
Brigitte Hafner

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How to make yoghurt - a primer
How to make yoghurt - a primerEddie Jim
Time:1-2 hours

Beautiful, creamy yoghurt is great to have with breakfast on poached fruits and toasted cereal. I like to hang the yoghurt for a few hours or overnight in a muslin cloth or thin-cotton tea towel.

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Ingredients

  • 1 litre organic/biodynamic milk

  • 30g milk powder (this is optional and is added to compensate for the low protein level of cow's milk, which on its own will make a runny style of yoghurt)

  • 4 big tbsp fresh, plain commercial yoghurt* with live cultures (most these days have them) and preferably without any added thickeners

  • (You will also need a thermometer and somewhere warm to incubate the milk. After many experiments with keeping it in an open, low oven or over a gas heater, I found the perfect solution - a thermos.)

Method

  1. First, gently heat the milk with the milk powder to 90C. This will destroy any spoilage bacteria, thus allowing the desirable bacteria to produce enough lactic acid to preserve the yoghurt.

    Now cool the milk as quickly as possible by pouring into a clean bowl set in a cold water bath.

    When the milk reaches 43C, stir in the yoghurt.

    This is the important bit. You need to keep the yoghurt about this temperature for four to six hours for the right bacteria to grow. My technique is to pour it into a thermos and put the lid on. During this time the yoghurt will set. Once this is done, refrigerate the mix and there you have it - your own yoghurt!

    Makes: 1 litre

    * A note on the commercial yoghurt used: the flavours of the starter yoghurt will influence the flavours of your own homemade yoghurt, so keep that in mind when you choose one. Also, after making the first batch, your own yoghurt can be used as the mother to make the next batch. However, over a few batches the nature of the bacterial content may change slightly, and with it the texture and flavour of the yoghurt. 

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Brigitte HafnerBrigitte Hafner is a chef, restaurateur and recipe writer.

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